[Talk-us-maine] [OpenStreetMap] Re: Strava imagery in JOSM

Tue Jun 9 03:18:41 UTC 2020

Hello Group,

I heard from Alan that you might be interested in importing building
footprints into Maine. I love the idea of adding useful content to OSM and
building footprints are a very useful feature. Before I go into detail, let
me just present the overall idea:

Microsoft published several sets of building footprints free to use in OSM
and several OSM groups are already working on imports:
https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Microsoft_Building_Footprint_Data.
Additionally to import just building footprints, I suggest adding address
data to the building structure (addr:street=*; addr:housenumber=*;
addr:postcode=*;addr:city=*). In Maine, you already imported a lot of
address-tags, which are probably from MEGIS (Maine Office of GIS) and are
free to use in OSM. If these address points are inside of a building shape,
it's pretty easy to add the address point data to the building shape in
QGIS. In this case buildings come with address data.

MEGIS has more point data available, like fire stations, police stations,
schools, hospitals, etc (--> https://www.maine.gov/megis/catalog). It is
possible to add this data to the building shape. For example a hospital
building with tags: building=hospital, amenity=hospital, name=Northern
Light Mercy Hospital, addr:city=Portland, ...

How to import data?
There are different ways of importing data and it has to be documented. But
a very basic method is to copy the data in JOSM from one layer into the
upload layer. Then check against existing data and use of the OSM validator
and finally upload it.

What are the problems of importing the data?
- OSM has import guidelines, which are described here
https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Import.
- all imports have to be checked carefully against existing data (which has
priority)
- many address points are outside of the building shape - mostly in very
rural areas. It's possible to add address points in proximity to the
building, but the data is not as reliable. In ME a lot of manual checks
for address tags have to be done.

What do you think about this project?
I personally would love to contribute to such a building import. What are
your ideas?
I apologize not to respond to Alex's comments, but I'm afraid this email is
already very long...

Michael

PS: Here is a sample dataset with MS building shapes. Some shape have and
some don't have MEGIS address data:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17Z-9vcePTIDvVMtndOu7Qc15j-Di4UCj?usp=sharing

On Mon, Jun 8, 2020 at 4:26 PM Alex Hennings <blackboxlogic at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Michael,
>
> Alan Bragg just forwarded a conversation between you and him about Maine
> buildings. I'm interested and I'd like to move the conversation to the
> mailing list so it is public and has an audience. Subscribe here:
> https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-us-maine I'm still new to
> mailing lists, so I hope I'm doing this right? I redacted links that looked
> like you might want them to be private.
>
> Reading over the conversation I have a few questions. Things like:
>
> - "As long as the address node is inside the building structure"
> Many of the addresses imported are not directly on buildings, and I found
> it very valuable to allow some "fudge".
>
> - "possible to define types of buildings"
> I'd prefer to avoid guesses like this, and only add data we're confident
> about.
>
> - "OSM compliant address information"
> What does compliant specifically mean here?
>
> - "add additional information from the Maine Office GIS catalog"
> Much of this came in with the address import. I haven't looked at what
> else there is but I know, for example, that I got the fire stations.
>
> - "PC needed more than 30 days..."
> I'm a software engineer, I may be able to improve this considerably.
>
> - "If several address points are within one building, it only takes the
> first address point"
> I'd strongly prefer that none of the points get merged if there are
> multiple.
>
> This isn't a project I'm willing to take on myself (I'm starting to work
> on roads as I consider them critical for routing), but I'd like to be
> involved in any large scale efforts in Maine. I'd suggest (if it isn't too
> painful) writing up a wiki page with the process you're recommending and
> the results it will have. Examples of the result would be very helpful.
>
> -Alex
>
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> <https://www.openstreetmap.org/user/miluethi>
>
> Alan,
>
> I’m happy to help!
>
> With QGis I can create a file with address nodes and buildings shapes. As
> long as the address node is inside the building structure, OSM compliant
> address information will be added to the building shape -> “building=yes,
> addr:street=xy, addr:housenumber=nn.
>
> I could add additional information from the Maine Office GIS catalog
> https://www.maine.gov/megis/catalog/: - fire_stations, schools, etc.
>
> It’s also possible to define types of buildings depending on the surface
> area the cover. For example very large buildings are building=industrial
> (if they aren’t schools). Or buildings with a surface of about 18-24 m2 are
> garages. There are many more possibilities.
>
> The main work is to check the data manually before importing them.
>
> Let me know what you think. Michael
>
> PS: For large files, combining different layers of GIS data can take a lot
> of (calculation) time. I had to stop combining all Maine building
> footprints with address data because my pretty sophisticated PC needed more
> than 30 days for it!
>
> On 2020-06-08 15:57:52 UTC Alan Bragg wrote:
>
> Ironically, I started playing with the MapWithAI JOSM plug-in yesterday
> and added all the MS buidings in Bar Harbor and a few other Mt Desert
> places. I just loaded your building file and can see a few buildings that
> area better drawn than the ones I uploaded. Wh? Alex Hennings has been the
> lead on Maine and has already imported all the address nodes. I’ve been
> adding and correcting streets, which are a mess, from the Maine E911 street
> shape file. I’m going to forward your message to him. It’s nice to find
> someone else excited about mapping Maine. Alan
>
> I’m wondering On 2020-06-07 23:57:36 UTC miluethi wrote:
>
> Thanks Alan, pretty cool stuff! I added Strava as TMS server and checked
> out my favorite local running spot nearby: Coffin Woods. Strava seems to be
> very useful to map forests. Here is a quick link
> https://photos.app.goo.gl/**redacted**
>
> Are you interested in doing more work on Maine buildings? I have a few
> files which might interest you 1) Maine Desert Island buildings with
> address tags 2) Maine AddressPoints and OSM tag formatting 3) Maine
> MS-Footprints
>
> I think the first file might be the most interesting for OSM. It combines
> building and address data. There are still problems with it. 1) If the
> address point is outside of the building shape, this algorithm doesn’t
> combine them. 2) If several address points are within one building, it only
> takes the first address point
>
> If you want to import these files, all shapes need to be all checked
> manually. But it’s still much faster than drawing all buildings.
>
> Here is the link for these files on my G-drive:
> https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ **redacted**
>
> If you are interested, I could create a similar file for Maine (or other
> states). I did already something similar for Suffolk County NY. Let me know
> what you think.
>
> Michael
>
> PS: My email is  **redacted** @gmail.com
>
> On 2020-06-06 11:21:43 UTC Alan Bragg wrote:
>
> OSM Diary entry about using Strava heatmap found at
> https://www.openstreetmap.org/user/erickdeoliveiraleal/diary/393164
>
> I made some notes that I could send you via email.
>
>
>
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